COLUMBIA - A Columbia man will set out Friday morning starting his 2000-mile bicycle trip to San Clemente, California.

Michael Marberry, 22, who says he used to be addicted to online gaming, will travel with a friend he got to know through gaming. They both quit gaming this Feburary and then scheduled the trip.

"I spent six years, a total of 506 days, doing online gaming. It started when I was 14 years old, and finished up quitting. When I realized that, how much time I've wasted, I felt like I needed to do something, just completely, something big, just kinda take my life back," Marberry said.

Marberry plans to spend one and a half months on the way to California, and will fly back to Columbia. Marberry said the two would spend 95 percent of the time riding on the way and camping outdoors. They will carry 45.5 pounds of gear on each of their two bikes.

Before making the decision, Marberry didn't ever go biking. He borrowed the bicycle from his friend to go on the trip.

"Three weeks ago, we did a sort of a test ride. That's about 90 miles away, and that really opened our eyes," Marberry said.

"At first I thought it was kinda silly," said Morgan Naes, Marberry's sister. "I and my boyfriend actually drove to California. We were going the same way he's going to go. We thought it'd be easier if he takes a car. But the more he and his friends planned it out, the more it seemed safer, and we started to support him more."